Biagio Sacco
This degree has allowed me to understand what I wanted out of a career in health science.
I’m 24 years old and I’m of an Italo-Australian family of four. I’ve been a Sydney local throughout my life, growing up in the inner west of Sydney. During this time, I attended St. Patricks College Strathfield for my secondary schooling and completed my Higher School Certificate in 2013.
I’ve always been curious, sociable and hard-working. I would often look at ways to find solutions for problems and work monotonously to be better every day. During my schooling, I found myself to be naturally more suited to humanities that conversely led to a love of medicine, science and health.
I’m most passionate when it comes to helping people. As cliché as it might sound, nothing is more rewarding than helping someone that is suffering from a condition or an illness. With this, I was naturally drawn towards science, medicine and health. Studying Biomedical Engineering fed this passion, as I was able to learn about its role in health care.
My inspiration to study Biomedical Engineering stemmed from a desire to strengthen my scientific knowledge, laboratory skills and undertake a research project. After completing a Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science at UTS, I wanted to combine the practical and theoretical knowledge I had learnt in my undergraduate course. When I studied my bachelor’s degree, I learnt the functions of the human body alongside promising applications of novel Biomedical Engineering practices, which inspired me to pursue this field.
I decided to study my master’s degree at UTS because I was already a part of this progressive community since 2015. During this time, I have been fortunate to have met many fantastic people and develop academic and professional relationships throughout my study. Another reason I chose UTS was related to the practical nature of the labs and classes, this allowed students to direct their own projects and classwork. Also, the last five years have seen UTS expand immensely. The development of state-of-the-art facilities, implementation of quality teaching staff and promising research are all a culmination of motivations that made my decision for me.
One of the major highlights of my studies would definitely be when I was involved in a major group project in the Biomedical Instrumentation Unit. This project involved developing a device that allowed patients that had suffered from hemiplegic or hemiparetic symptoms post-stroke to move their affected limb through Electroencephalographic (EEG) signals. The device allowed for real-time acquisition of EEG data to dictate movements of the rehabilitation device and help stimulate muscle unit recruitment in periods of little to no activation post-stroke.
My involvement in this project was a major highlight in my course as it provided insight into what a future in the profession holds. I was able to correlate all the theoretical content I had to learn to a practical application that would be feasible in a real-world clinical environment. Conversely, it appealed to me on a personal level, seeing all the collective work finally contribute to the betterment of life.
Studying science gives us as human beings the ability to perceive how intricate, precious and ultimately finite our environment and body are. Looking back, I believe that this degree has allowed me to understand what I wanted out of a career in health science. I’ve also refined my understanding of research, analytical skills and innovation.
In the future, I hope to pursue research in Alzheimer’s and Dementia as it is a disease that has been a part of my family generationally. I would like to research and develop solutions to assist individuals suffering from acute, sub-acute and chronic conditions. I’ve also decided to pursue further study in completing my Doctorate of Physiotherapy and work in a hospital environment in the field of neurological rehabilitation.
My advice to anyone considering studying the Master of Science majoring in Biomedical Engineering is to take advantage of the fantastic facilities, staff and practical subjects UTS has to offer. Studying this course gives you a platform to display the skills you’ve learnt through university to future employers. It is a well-balanced and innovative degree. Both core and elective units are interesting and apply to real-world clinical skills, with the added ability to enrol in elective units that cater to individuals with differing interests.
Learn more about UTS courses in science and maths
